~Videl~

"Oh, V, he was most likely just trying to be a gentleman," Sienna explained, after Videl confided in her how he had practically bolted out of her quarters the night before. "I mean - " Sienna's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, despite the fact that they were alone in Videl's place. "You said he was hard. He was probably scared he'd split you in half with it."

Videl's jaw dropped, and she blushed harder than she ever had before.

"Sienna!" Videl hissed, feeling like she might die from embarrassment.

"What?" Sienna asked innocently, mouthful of the waffles Videl had made from scratch for her, when she had asked her best friend to come over to talk that morning.

"You think he wanted to . . . you know . . . ?" Videl mumbled meekly.

"Fuck you?"

"Sienna!?"  Videl squeaked, covering her face with her hands.

"Oh, sweetie, of course he did." Sienna giggled, patting Videl on the back sympathetically. "He most likely knows you're a virgin, thanks to that Darcy bitch. He's probably just trying not to scare you off by throwing you down, and - "

"Oh, my Stars!" Videl cried, trying to shield her ears from her best friend's nonchalant vulgarity.

"See? You aren't even ready to hear me talk about it," Sienna smiled, shaking her head. "Guys can sense that. You should count yourself lucky that you've got one that doesn't pressure you into it before you're ready, just to get his dick wet."

Videl cringed at the thought. It seemed like her friend was speaking from experience, and she felt bad for her that her first time had been someone else's idea.

"Was Darcy right about me?" Videl asked hesitantly. "Am I really a virgin?"

Sienna swallowed and her eyebrows furrowed. "Well, yeah, V - about the virgin part. I don't think you're weird, though."

"Why haven't I . . . done it, yet?" Videl wondered with more than an edge of nervousness in her voice.

"Um," Sienna sighed. "You were never really excited about the idea - you had bigger problems to deal with, I think. And then, after Lars . . . you really   weren't interested in that kind of thing."

Videl winced as she nodded.

"Which is understandable," Sienna added quickly. "He tried to take your virginity from you, by force. And by the Stars, and a swift kick to the balls, you still have it. You should be able to keep it as long as you want."

Videl gave her a small, half-smile.

"And besides, who cares what Darcy thinks? She's just a jealous cow."

Maybe Sienna was right, and she had nothing to worry about. Kane wasn't cruel, regardless of her pretending he was, the night before. He had left because he didn't want to take things too far. It was true that she wasn't ready, even if she wanted him more and more each day.

"Thanks, Sienna," Videl said with a giggle of relief - Sienna's words had calmed her nerves. "I feel a little better, now."

"Glad I could help," Sienna winked. "And thank you,  for these delicious waffles!"

Videl laughed, shaking her head. "It was my pleasure." Having an opportunity to put her waffle iron to good use, for the first time, was a joy all on its own.

"I guess I should thank Kane, too, for keeping it in his pants," Sienna joked. "Or else I wouldn't be having these, right now."

Videl's eyes widened. "Don't you dare!"

Sienna burst out laughing.

. . .

After their talk, Videl finally got around to rinsing off the dishes Kane had washed against her will, before cleaning up the mess she'd left from the stir-fry, and that morning's waffles. Once she was done, she picked up Belle from her favorite spot on the couch.

"Hello, Belle."

Belle's yellow light flashed to blue, as her robotic voice greeted her.

"Hello, V."

"You're gonna hate me, but your blue popsicles melted yesterday, before I could get them in the freezer."

The blue light went back to the yellow standby color, unable to respond to the words.

"I know, I know - I'm sorry. Can you help me clean up the mess?" Videl asked. "I promise I'll get you more."

Belle blinked.

"Yes, two  boxes." Videl relented to her imaginary reply.

She brought her to the sticky blue stain on the tile and knelt down.

"Mop, please."

Belle's light flashed green, and the machine whirred as a miniature mop-head slid out.

"Mop ready."  Belle's electronic voice trilled.

Videl held her over the blue mess, and clear cleaning fluid sprayed out, so that she could mop it up. Once the tile was clean, Videl stood up.

"Sanitize," Videl requested.

The mop-head disappeared back into Belle's recesses, as a red light flashed.

"Sanitizing . . . Sanitized. Please empty cartridge."

Videl took Belle to the sink and pressed the button to open her up, and slid out the cartridge filled with liquid. The blue popsicle juice had mixed with the red sanitizing fluid to make a pretty purple color. Videl dumped it down the drain, rinsed out the cartridge, and returned it to its rightful place. After she snapped the cover back over it, effectively closing her up, she patted Belle like she was her baby whose diaper she had just changed.

"Thank you, Belle."

Belle's light flashed blue as she said, "You're welcome, V."

The light went yellow, and Videl nestled her back in the corner of the couch, and tucked the pink blanket around her affectionately.

"You're so precious," Videl cooed at her, before retreating to the bedroom, and throwing herself on the bed. She sighed, remembering how much more comfortable Kane's bed had been - like laying on a cloud that smelled like him. Videl smiled to herself, thumbing her wristband to open her holo-menu. Maybe she should send him a message to show him that she was thinking about him, and that there were no hard feelings about the night before, she decided. She selected him from her contacts, and clicked "message." She typed it up and sent it, before she could second-guess herself, her stomach filling with butterflies.

[Got any dirty dishes for me to do?]

~Kane~

When Kane finally got back to his private quarters after the dinner, Dare was playing Virtual Pinball on his holo-menu. Hearing Kane come in, he jumped up from the couch, thumbing it off.

"Dude! Did you get trapped in the elevator again?" Dare asked, clearly wondering how a trip to the Grocery had taken all day.

Kane shook his head, dropping to the couch with an unceremonious thump.

"No, V asked me to stay for dinner. She cooked stir-fry for me and Risa."

"Aww, man! I fucking love stir-fry!" Dare sulked for a half-second. "Wait - who's Risa?"

Kane sighed. "It's a long story."

He raked his hands down his face, annoyed with himself.

"Was the stir-fry bad? Is that why you're bummed out?"

Kane rolled his eyes with a smirk. Dare had a way of making him feel better, just by being himself.

"No, she's a great cook - you missed out."

"Whaaaat?" Dare whined plaintively. "I had pop-tarts for dinner. There's like nothing  in there to eat."

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot to get groceries for us."

Kane couldn't help but chuckle at Dare's mock-exasperation.

"So . . . " Dare asked hesitantly, after a moment. "What's really bothering you?"

Kane wasn't sure he wanted to go into details, but he decided that it was okay to tell his friend the gist of what happened, at least.

"I almost blew it with V," he admitted on an exhale. "Maybe I did blow it. I don't know."

"What - did you tell her that her cooking sucked?"

Kane flashed him a glare. "No, man."  Kane laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't tell her that her cooking sucked. I did  pretend to be poisoned, but that went over well."

Dare laughed at the mental image.

"Then you probably didn't blow it, dude." Dare shrugged.

Kane wasn't so sure. Without getting too graphic, he explained that things had gotten hot and heavy, and how he'd rushed out of there before he went past the point-of-no-return.

"And you just bailed?" Dare gaped.

Kane nodded, chagrined. Dare winced, sucking air through his teeth. His reaction to the story said it all. Kane was damned-if-he-did, and damned-if-he-didn't, in that situation.

"Hey, you're a better man than me," Dare tried to comfort him. "I would've fucked-now-asked-questions-later. Green-light-means-go, in my book."

Dare talked a big game, but he wasn't exactly going around throwing his dick at every girl who wanted it - he clearly had some sense to hold back, more often than not.

"Helpful," Kane scowled. "If it was Darcy or some airhead, I would've, too."

"Well, why didn't you, then?" Dare asked curiously. "V's your girl, now. She obviously likes you."

"She's a virgin, Dare." Kane confessed, feeling somewhat guilty for divulging it, even though it was common knowledge for most everyone they went to School with.

Dare had been in the middle of taking a drink from his water bottle - heard the word "virgin," and started sputtering and choking. Once he was done coughing, he looked mystified.

"You are a fucking saint, then!" Dare was shaking his head in disbelief. "What the hell are you worried about?"

Kane rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, groaning in frustration. He hoped that V saw it that way, but he was doubtful. The look on her face when she had asked if she'd done something wrong had him tossing and turning all night.

. . .

The next morning, he and Dare hit the Gym. He thought about calling or messaging V to see if she wanted to come, but changed his mind. He needed to work out his frustration, and she was more than likely still asleep at 6 a.m. anyway. After a couple hours, he was tired and sore, and starting to feel a bit better about last night. He didn't blow it. He could have handled it better, sure, but he'd made the right call. He and Dare decided to stop at Grocery to stock up his private quarters. After the trip to the Gym, the Grocery, and back to Kane's, Dare's nerves about the elevator were almost  quelled. Once they had all the groceries put away, they both took showers and changed into fresh clothes. Dare had finished unpacking by the time Kane had gotten back from dinner at V's the night before, all except one box. Dare took it to his room to finish the job, and Kane took a seat on the couch to relax. It was almost time to make lunch, but Kane's muscles wanted rest. He was reaching for the TV remote when his holo-menu popped open with a message from V. Kane sat up straight as if she could see him slouching, and tapped the message to open it.

[Got any dirty dishes for me to do?]

He smiled with relief. She wasn't upset - he had been worrying for no reason. He typed a reply to her message on the hologram keyboard, and sent it.

[Not yet, but I'll dirty some up for you, baby.]